History of Laurel Hill

The area which is now Laurel Hill was one of the first English-speaking settlements in Florida. Settlers were documented establishing a community, originally known as Almirante, soon after Florida's acquisition by the United States in 1821. In the 1880s, railroad access to north-west Florida opened up a booming lumber industry, with the Yellow River Railroad reaching the Almirante (Laurel Hill) area by 1892. In 1895 Almirante, then just a small logging and farming community, was platted and renamed Laurel Hill, the name purportedly inspired by a large laurel tree which grew in the center of the community. Growing rapidly, the community was incorporated by the Florida Legislature in 1905.

Although in 1915 Laurel Hill was the largest community in newly created Okaloosa County, the town lost out becoming the Okaloosa County seat to the more centrally located town of Crestview. Laurel Hill's economic fortunes went into a decline after World War I, a waning intensified by the Florida land speculation collapse of the 1920s which resulted in the closing of Laurel Hill's only bank. In order to install infrastructure improvements and to re-stimulate the community, Laurel Hill was reincorporated in 1953.

First held in 1992, the Laurel Hill Hobo Festival is an annual event scheduled for the second Saturday in October.

The team name for the Laurel Hill School is the Hoboes, allegedly the only school in the US with this team name.

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